Toy vehicle turntable

ABSTRACT

A turntable for a self propelled toy vehicle includes a base along which the toy vehicle may travel and a vehicle support member mounted on the base in the path of travel of the vehicle for supporting the vehicle with at least one of its drive wheels in engagement with the base. The support member is rotatably mounted on the base for rotational movement in a plane parallel to the base so that the engagement of one of the vehicle&#39;&#39;s drive wheels with the base causes the support member to rotate, thereby changing the direction of travel of the vehicle. Stop means limits the rotation of the support member to a predetermined angle of rotation at which the vehicle is freed to move off the support member, with the stop means being released to permit further rotation in response to the presence of the next vehicle moving onto the support member.

[ May 20, 1975 United States Patent 1 1 Joshi et al.

[ TOY VEHICLE TURNTABLE [75] Inventors: Madhusudan Joshi, Levittown;

Edwin A. Nielsen, Oceanside; Frank hicle support member mounted on thebase in the path of travel of the vehicle for supporting the vehicle D.Venture, Commack, all of NY.

Ideal Toy Corporation, Hollis, NY.

May 15, 1974 Appl. No.: 469,992

[73] Assignee: with at least one of its drive wheels in engagement withthe base. The support member is rotatably mounted on the base forrotational movement in a [22] Filed:

plane parallel to the base so that the engagement of one of thevehicle's drive wheels with the base causes the support member to rotate52 us. 46/202; 46/216 h y changing the 511 m. A63h 19/00 direction oftravel of the vehiele- Step means limit8 58 Field ofSearch...........46/201, 202, 243 P, 216 the rotation of the pp member to a predeterminedangle of rotation at which the vehicle is freed to 5 move off thesupport member, with the stop means References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS llll970 6/l97l being released to permit further rotation inresponse to the presence of the next vehicle moving onto the supportmember.

46/243 F Genin 46/202 X Primary Examiner-F. Barry Shay AssistantExaminer-R. F. Cutting 17 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Richard M. Rabkin, Esquire PZJENTEB MAY 20 I975 SHEET 1. BF 3 FIG.

PATENTED HAY 2 01975 SHEET 2 0F 3 PATENYED MAY 2 0 I975 SHEET 3 0F 3 TII TOY VEHICLE TURNTABLE The present invention relates to a turntable fortoy vehicles. and more particularly to a turntable which is powered bythe vehicle itself.

In toy vehicle games. the vehicles are typically placed on a track orvehicle support surface and guided by the track through a predeterminedpath of travel. usually in a closed loop configuration. To increase thenumber of possible configurations for the vehicles path of travel.turntables are sometimes provided in toy vehicle games so that thedirection of travel ofa vehicle can be changed within a relatively smallor limited space. Such turntables however must be powered eithermanually or by an outside power source such as an electric motor or thelike. Accordingly, they are relatively difficult for a child to operate,or when electrically operated. relatively complicated and expensive inconstruction.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide aturntable for a toy vehicle which is relatively simple in constructionand durable in operation.

Yet another object of the present invention is to pro vide a vehicleturntable which is adapted to be powered by the drive of the toy vehicleitself.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a relativelyinexpensively constructed vehicle turntable which is adapted to beoperated by a vehicle placed on the turntable.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention a vehicleturntable is provided which is adapted to change the direction ofmovement of a self propelled vehicle. The turntable includes a basewhich provides a vehicle support surface defining a path of travel forthe vehicle. A vehicle support plate located in the path of travel ofthe vehicle. is rotatably mounted on the base of the turntable forrotation in a plane parallel to the support surface of the base. Thissupport plate has a predetermined configuration selected so as tosupport the vehicle on the base with one of the vehicles drive wheels indriving engagement with the base. while the other of the vehicles drivewheels is out of engagement with the base. In this manner the one drivewheel of the vehicle engaged with the base will cause the support plateto rotate.

The operation of the turntable is assisted by the provision of at leastone vehicle abutment bar mounted on the support plate for movementbetween a first position which blocks movement of a vehicle off of thesupport plate, and a second position which permits such movement. Theabutment bar is opperately engaged with the base of the turntable withthe latter including a guide which moves the abutment bar between itsfirst and second positions. As a result a vehicle moving along the baseonto the support plate has its movement stopped by the abutment barwhile one of its drive wheels continues to rotate in engagement with thebase to rotate the plate and to change the direction of the vehiclespath of travel. The rotation continues until the abut' ment bar is movedinto its second position by the guide means on the base.

The above. and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent in the following detailed description ofanillustrive embodiment thereof which used to be read in connection withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a turntable constructed in accordancewith the present invention and showing a toy vehicle approaching theturntable;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the turntable shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the turntable of FIGv 1 showing. in phantomlines. the wheels of a vehicle (a) approaching the turntable and (b)positioned thereon.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines 4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view similar to FIG. 3. showing the position andconfiguration of the turntable support plate after a rotational movementof 90; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawing in detail and initially to FIG. 1 it willbe seen that a vehicle turntable 10. constructed in accordance with thepresent invention. includes a base 12 which defines a vehicle supportsurface 14 along which a self propelled vehicle I6 is adapted to travel.A rotatable turntable mechanism 18 is provided on base 12 in the path oftravel of vehicle 16 and is adapted to be rotated by the drive mechanismof vehicle 16 when the vehicle moves on to the turntable mechanism. Bythe construction of the turntable mechanism and cooperating guidemembers on base 12, the turntable mechanism 18 will turn through 180when a vehicle moves on to it. so that the direction of movement ofvehicle 16 will be reversed. That is. after vehicle 16 enters intoposition on turntable mechanism 18. that mechanism will turn through l80and then release vehicle 16 so that it will move off the turntablemechanism along support surface 14 towards the left of FIG. I. Vehicle16 can be of any desired self propelled vehicle type construction, butpreferably is powered by a friction typeflywheel motor. By thisconstruction the pair of rear drive wheels 20 in the toy vehicle arecontinuously rotated by the flywheel drive mechanism contained therein.The rotation of these wheels is used, as described hereinafter. to causeoperation of the turntable.

As seen most clearly in FIG. 2. turntable mechanism 18 includes agenerally rectangular support plate 22 having a pair of diagonallyrelated cutout sections 24 formed therein. In addition plate 22 includesan integrally formed pair of mounting arm structures 26 which have agenerally inverted U-shapcd configuration and include support channels28 formed integrally therein.

Support channels 28 provide mounting support for the arms 30 of a pairof vehicle abutment bars 32. The arms 30 of the abutment bars (whichabutment bars are also generally U-shaped members) are captured withinchannels 26 with their ends 34 received in channels 28, as seen mostclearly in FIG. 4. By this arrangement. arms 30. and thus abutment bars32, are permitted a limited degree of lateral movement in a planegenerally parallel to the plane of support plate 22, and also arepermitted a limited amount of vertical or rotational movement in adirection perpendicular to plate 22. This freedom of movement forabutment bars 32 per mits the bars. as described hereinafter, to bemoved between two positions. as shown in FIG. 4, wherein theyalternately block the movement of a toy vehicle and permit the movementthereof off of the support plate.

Support plate 22, and thus abutment bars 32, are pivotally mounted onbase 22 in any convenient manner,

as for example by metal rivet 36 or the like. Preferably, base 12includes a well or a recess 38 formed therein which receives plate 22 sothat the support surface 40 of the support plate lies in substantiallythe same plane as the vehicle support surface 14 of the base. This willfacilitate movement of the vehicle onto the support plate. In thisconnection it is noted that plate 22 may also have diagonally opposedrecesses 42 formed therein to define wheel wells which receive thewheels of the toy vehicle and facilitate movement of the vehicle ontoand off of the support plate.

In any case, well 38 also is formed so as to receive or accommodateabutment bars 32 of support plate 22, so that in the down position ofthe bars (illustrated for example at the left in FIGS. 1 and 4) avehicle will pass over the bar from support surface 14 onto the supportplate 22. Of course, as seen in the drawings, the outer edges orsurfaces 44 of abutment bars 32 are curved to conform generally to thecurvature of the circular well 38.

Movement of abutment bars 32 is controlled by the bottom surface 46 ofwell 38 which defines a guide surface for pins 48 formed integrally withabutment bars 32. The bottom end portions 50 of pins 48 ride alongsurface 46 during rotation of plate 22 and thus control the movement andposition of the abutment bars. In order to raise or lower the abutmentbars, guide surface 46 is provided with an inclined recess or ramp 52formed therein having its deepest end portion 54 located adjacent theend 56 of the vehicle support surface l4 in base 12. Ramp 52 extendsthrough an arc of approximately l80, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 6. The ramphas two surface sections 52 and 52" with section 52' being relativelyflat and section 52" being inclined upwardly from section 52' to surface46. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that an abutment bar 32 adjacentthe end 56 of support surface 14 (as shown in FIG. 1) will be in itsdown position with its pin 48 in recess 52. In this connection it isnoted that the depth of the recess at end 54 (i.e. the depth of rampsection 52') is slightly greater than the height of pin 48, (see FIG. 4)so as to accommodate the pin.

Accordingly, a vehicle 16 moving along support surface 14, towardsturntable mechanism 18 (see FIG. 1) will move across the adjacentabutment bar 32 onto the support plate 22. As mentioned that plate has apair of diagonally opposed recesses 24, which recesses are located suchthat one of the drive wheels of the vehicle will be located in one ofthe recesses and engaged with the surface 46 of base 12 at all times,while the other of the drive wheels of the vehicle will be on thesupport surface 40, 42 of the support plate and out of drivingengagement with base 12. Thus, when a vehicle is on support plate 22 theengagement of its right drive wheel with base 12 will cause the plate 22to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. Of course, it should benoted that when the vehicle enters onto plate 22 its forward motion isautomatically stopped because the other abutment bar 32 is in a raisedposition as a result of the engagement of its guide pin 48 with thesurface 46 of well 38 (see FIG. 4).

By this construction plate 22 continues to rotate in a clockwisedirection and, as this occurs, the abutment bar 32 at the rear ofvehicle 16 is slowly raised by the engagement of its pin 48 with ramp 52until that bar reaches its fully raised position when surface 46 isreached. On the other hand, the abutment bar 32 engaged with the frontof vehicle 16 remains in its raised position as a result of theengagement ofits pin 48 with surface 46, until the end 54 of recess 52is reached after a rotation of approximately 180. At that point theabutment bar drops to its lower position as its pin 48 enters the recessprovided by ramp 52. When this occurs the drive of the vehicle causesthe vehicle to move off of support plate 22 and continue along its pathof travel on surface 14, but in opposite direction from that shown inFIG. 1.

In order to provide a more accurate operation of the turntable mechanism18, and to insure that the vehicle once rotated through I80 will bedirected onto the vehicle support surface l4 between the walls 58 ofbase l2, the base is provided with a pair of stop members that cooperatewith the abutment bars 32. Thus well 38 has an upright stop pin or anabutment member 60 formed on it bottom surface 46 at a position adjacentthe end of ramp 52 and located to engage the pins 48 of the respectiveabutment arms 32. During rotation of support plate 22, as one of thebars 32 is raised by movement of its pin 48 along ramp 52, its pin 48ultimately moves into contact with the stop member 60 so that furtherrotation of support plate 22 is prevented. The position of stop 60 isselected such that when it engages a pin 48 the rotation of supportplate 22 is stopped in a position illustrated in FIG. 1 wherein theother abutment bar falls into its lower position so that a vehicle onthe support plate can move directly onto the support surface 14 betweenwalls 58. It is also noted that because of the configuration of theabutment arms 32 these arms provide side guide wall members 62, whichserve as a continuation of the base guide walls 58, to insure that avehicle on the turntable will be properly directed onto the base 12between its guide walls 58.

In addition, because of the free lateral movement permitted bars 32 bythe mounting of their arms 30, as described above, base 12 is providedwith a cam guide member 64 adjacent stop 60 and positioned in front ofthe stop 60 with respect of the direction of travel of the guide pins48. Cam member 64 is configured such that as a guide pin 48 moves out ofrecess 52 it will engage the surface of cam member 64 and be urged inthe direction of the arrow A in FIG. 4 to thereby move the abutment bar32 to its retracted position, shown in solid lines in FIGS. 3 and 4. Inthat position further movement of plate 22 under the influence of thevehicle will cause the pin 48 to engage stop 60 thereby preventingfurther rotation of the plate 22.

In addition to stop member 60 base 12 includes a shoulder 66 formedadjacent end 56 of vehicle support surface 14. Shoulder 66 includes avertical side wall having a height which is substantially less than theheight of guide wall 58 of base 12. The dimension of shoulder 66 isselected such that as an abutment bar 32 moves into the position shownat the left in FIGS. 1 and 3, Le. at the position wherein its pin 48enters the end 54 of recess 52, its squared end 70 will engage shoulder66, if the abutment bar is in its raised position, to insure that plate22 is stopped in the proper relative position with respect to supportsurface 14. When a bar 32 reaches this position adjacent surface 14 thebar will fall of its own weight, and because of the pressure of thefront wheels of the vehicle against the inclined bar 32, into the recess52.

it is noted that stop 60 is positioned such that movement of the plate22 will still be occuring at the time the squared shoulder 70 engagesthe surface 68 of shoulder 66 so that when bar 32 moves to its downposition the plate 22 is properly aligned with surface 14 so that thevehicle can move directly onto that surface.

Since shoulder 66 forms, in effect. an extension of only the upperportion of wall 58. once the abutment bar 32 is in its lower positionshoulder 70 can pass beneath the shoulder 66. in addition, it is notedthat the other shoulder 72 of each abutment bar 32 is curved so thatduring rotation of the plate it will not engage shoulder 66 even as itis raised along ramp 52. in any case ramp 52 is formed so that shoulder72 will also pass beneath shoulder 66 during rotation of plate 22.

Accordingly, it is seen that, in operation. turntable I0 is initiallyset up in the configuration shown in FIG. 1 such that abutment bar 32adjacent end 56 of vehicle support surface 14 is in its lower positionso that a vehi cle 16 can pass over the abutment bar and onto thesupport plate 22. On the other hand the other abutment bar 32 is in itsraised positions because of the engagement of its pin 48 with surface 46of base 12 and that pin is engaged with the stop 60, having been guidedinto that position by the cam 64. As vehicle 16 moves onto plate 22 itsfront end engages the raised bar 32 at the right in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 andmovement of the vehicle is thus stopped. However. the impact of thevehicle against the raised abutment bar 32 causes that bar to move fromits retracted solid line position (shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) to itsextended, dotted line position. As described above. such movement ispermitted because of the support arrangement of arms 30 in channels 28.Such lateral movement of bar 32 frees its associated pin 48, as seen inFIGS. 3 and 4, from stop 60 so that the pin and stop are no longerengaged. Thus plate 22 is free to rotate under the effect of theengagement between the right drive wheel of the vehicle and the surface46 of the base. Accordingly plate 22 will rotate in a counter clockwisedirection with the front end of vehicle l6 engaged against one of theabutment bars 32 which is held in its raised position during suchrotation by the flat surface 46 of the base. On the other FIGS. theother abutment bar 32 (at the left in FIG. 3 and 4) is slowly moved fromits lower position to its raised position by the engagement of pin 48with the inclined surface of ramp 52.

After plate 22 has rotated through 180 the raised abutment bar 32 (Le.the bar engaged with the front vehicle 16) moves into position over theend 54 of ramp 52. At that point that abutment bar will drop into therecess 54 under the influence of gravity. To insure that the plate 22stops in its proper position the abutment bar, as described above, isprovided with the shoulder 70 which engages the surface 68 of theshoulder 66.

As this is occuring, the other abutment bar 32, which is adjacent to therear of the vehicle, is fully raised to its upper most position andmoved from its extended to its retracted position by the engagement ofits pin 48 with the cam member 64. Just after the first abutment barengages shoulder 66 and moves down, the other abutment bar engages stop60 so as to stop rotational movement of plate 22. Accordingly. vehicle16 is then free to move outwardly over the abutment bar adjacent itsfront end and onto the support surface 14, while the other abutment baris raised in its initial position ready to stop movement of the nextvehicle entering the turntable.

Although an embodiment of the present invention has been describedherein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to that precise embodiment,and that various changes and modification may be effected therein by oneskilled in the art without parting from the scope and the spirit of theinvention.

what is claimed is:

l. A turntable for a self propelled toy vehicle having at least onedrive wheel. said turntable comprising a base along which said toyvehicle may travel and vehicle support means located in the path oftravel of said vehicle for supporting the vehicle with said at least onedrive wheel in engagement with said base. said support means beingrotatably mounted on said base for rotational movement in a planeparallel to said base whereby engagement of said drive wheel with saidbase causes said support means to rotate and change the direction oftravel of said vehicle; and vehicle barrier means for preventingmovement of the vehicle from said support means until said support meanshas rotated through a predetermined angle of rotation; said barriermeans comprising an abutment bar movably mounted on said support meansfor movement between a first position normally blocking movement of thevehicle off of said support means in its direction of travel and asecond position permitting passage of the vehicle off of the supportmeans; and means on said base for moving said abutment bar to its secondposition when said support means has rotated through said predeterminedangle of rotation, whereby said vehicle will continue off of saidsupport means in a new direction along its path of travel.

2. The turntable as defined in claim 1 wherein said releasing meansincludes guide surfaces formed on said base and positioned to engage aportion of the abutment bar for moving said abutment bar from its firstto its second position.

3. The turntable as defined in claim 2 wherein said base has a vehiclesupport surface defining the path of travel of the vehicle and a wellformed therein; said support means being mounted in said well with itsupper surface located in substantially the same plane as said vehiclesupport surface and said abutment bar being positioned to enter saidwell in said second position thereof.

4. The turntable as defined in claim 2 including stop means for stoppingrotation of said support member after movement thereof through saidpredetermined angle of rotation. said barrier means being responsive tothe movement of a vehicle onto the support member for releasing saidstop means to allow said support member to be rotated by the vehicle.

5. The turntable as defined in claim 3 wherein said base includes stopmeans for stopping rotation of said support means after movement thereofthrough said predetermined angle of rotation.

6. The turntable as defined in claim 5 wherein said abutment bar ismounted on said support means for reciprocal movement between retractedand extended positions in the direction of travel of said vehicle andincludes an integral abutment surface for selectively engaging said stopmeans in the retracted position thereof whereby a vehicle engaging saidabutment bar moves said bar to its extended position to release saidabutment surface from engagement with said stop means to free saidsupport means for rotation by said vehicle.

7. The turntable as defined in claim 6 wherein said guide surfacesinclude a cam, and guide surface for moving said abutment bar from itssecond extended to its first retracted position as the abutment surfaceof the bar approaches said stop means.

8. The turntable as defined in claim 7 wherein said support meansincludes a pair of identical abutment bars and said predetermined angleof rotation is 180.

9. A turntable for changing the direction of move ment of a toy vehiclehaving a pair of drive wheels, said turntable comprising a baseproviding a vehicle supporting surface along which said toy vehicle maytravel; a vehicle support plate rotatably located in the path of travelof the vehicle on said base and mounted on said base for rotation in aplane parallel to said support surface said support plate having apredetermined configuration selected to support said vehicle on saidbase with one of its drive wheels in driving engagement with said baseand the other of its drive wheels out of engagement with said base; andat least one vehicle abutment means mounted on said support plate formovement between a first position blocking movement of a vehicle on saidplate and a second position permitting movement off of said plate; saidbase including means operatively engaged with said abutment means formoving said abutment means between said first and second positionswhereby a vehicle moving along said base onto said support plate andstopped by said abutment means causes said plate to rotate and changesthe direction of its own path of travel by the engagement of said onedrive wheel with said base until said abutment means moves to its secondposition.

10. The turntable as defined in claim 9 including a pair of identicalabutment means mounted on said support plate in diametrically opposedpositions with respect to one another and respectively cooperating withsaid means for moving the abutment means between first and secondpositions; said last mentioned means changing the position of one ofsaid abutment means from its first to its second position and the otherof said abutment arms from it second to its first position during eachl80 of rotation of said support plate whereby rotation of said supportplate by a vehicle cause the direction of travel of the vehicle to bechanged by 180.

11. The turntable as defined in claim 10 wherein said base includes stopmeans cooperating with said abutment means for stopping rotation of saidsupport plate after each 180 movement thereof.

12. The turntable as defined in claim 11 wherein each of said abutmentmeans comprises an abutment bar extending across the path of travel of avehicle on said base; means for mounting said bars for movement betweensaid first and second positions, wherein said first position of each ofsaid bars is located to block movement of the vehicle and the secondposition of the bars is located to permit movement of the vehicle overthe bars and for permitting movement of said bars between extended andretracted positions with respect to said plate in the driving directionof said vehicles; said bars each having a stop surface for engaging saidstop means when said bars are in their retracted position; said stopmeans being located to engage the stop surface of the bar moved from itssecond to its first position during rotation of said plate, and saidbase including means for moving a bar from its extended position to itsretracted position as the bar approaches said stop means, thereby tostop rotation of said plate.

13. The turntable as defined in claim 12 wherein said mounting meanspermits movement of the bars in their second position, when said plateis stopped, from their retracted to their extended positions said stopmeans and stop surfaces being dimensioned to be free of one another inthe extended position of the bars whereby said support plate is free torotate under the influence of the vehicle thereon until the supportplate has rotated 180 and the stop surface of one of the bars engagessaid stop means.

l4. The turntable as defined in claim 13 wherein said bars each includea support pin extending outwardly therefrom towards said base and saidmeans for moving said abutment means between said first and secondpositions comprises a relatively flat guide surface formed in said baseand along which said pin moves during rotation of said plate; said guidesurface including a recess having an inclined ramp formed thereinextending from a position below the plane of said guide surface to saidguide surface over an arc of approximately l to a position adjacent saidstop means with the deepest end of said recess being substantially equalto the length of said pins whereby during rotation of said plate one ofthe guide bars is supported by its support pin in its first positionfrom said stop means through until its support pin enters the deepestend of said recess and the other of said bars is moved from its secondposition to its first position as its support pin progresses along saidramp.

15. The turntable as defined in claim 14 wherein said base includesspaced guide wall means defining said vehicle support surfacetherebetween and located to direet a vehicle over the bar in its secondposition when the plate is stopped, and thus onto the plate, whereby thevehicle impacts against the other bar, then in its first position, torelease that bar from engagement with said stop means and to permitrotation of the plate by said vehicle.-

16. The turntable as defined in claim 15 wherein said base has arecessed well formed therein having a bottom wall defining said guidesurface said support plate being mounted in said well with its uppersurface located in substantially the same plane as said vehicle supportsurface; said barrier bars being positioned to enter said well in thesecond positions thereof.

17. The turntable as defined in claim 16 wherein said support pinsdefine said stop surfaces.

1. A turntable for a self propelled toy vehicle having at least onedrive wheel, said turntable comprising a base along which said toyvehicle may travel and vehicle support means located in the path oftravel of said vehicle for supporting the vehicle with said at least onedrive wheel in engagement with said base, said support means beingrotatably mounted on said base for rotational movement in a planeparallel to said base whereby engagement of said drive wheel with saidbase causes said support means to rotate and change the direction oftravel of said vehicle; and vehicle barrier means for preventingmovement of the vehicle from said support means until said support meanshas rotated through a predetermined angle of rotation; said barriermeans comprising an abutment bar movaBly mounted on said support meansfor movement between a first position normally blocking movement of thevehicle off of said support means in its direction of travel and asecond position permitting passage of the vehicle off of the supportmeans; and means on said base for moving said abutment bar to its secondposition when said support means has rotated through said predeterminedangle of rotation, whereby said vehicle will continue off of saidsupport means in a new direction along its path of travel.
 2. Theturntable as defined in claim 1 wherein said releasing means includesguide surfaces formed on said base and positioned to engage a portion ofthe abutment bar for moving said abutment bar from its first to itssecond position.
 3. The turntable as defined in claim 2 wherein saidbase has a vehicle support surface defining the path of travel of thevehicle and a well formed therein; said support means being mounted insaid well with its upper surface located in substantially the same planeas said vehicle support surface and said abutment bar being positionedto enter said well in said second position thereof.
 4. The turntable asdefined in claim 2 including stop means for stopping rotation of saidsupport member after movement thereof through said predetermined angleof rotation, said barrier means being responsive to the movement of avehicle onto the support member for releasing said stop means to allowsaid support member to be rotated by the vehicle.
 5. The turntable asdefined in claim 3 wherein said base includes stop means for stoppingrotation of said support means after movement thereof through saidpredetermined angle of rotation.
 6. The turntable as defined in claim 5wherein said abutment bar is mounted on said support means forreciprocal movement between retracted and extended positions in thedirection of travel of said vehicle and includes an integral abutmentsurface for selectively engaging said stop means in the retractedposition thereof whereby a vehicle engaging said abutment bar moves saidbar to its extended position to release said abutment surface fromengagement with said stop means to free said support means for rotationby said vehicle.
 7. The turntable as defined in claim 6 wherein saidguide surfaces include a cam, and guide surface for moving said abutmentbar from its second extended to its first retracted position as theabutment surface of the bar approaches said stop means.
 8. The turntableas defined in claim 7 wherein said support means includes a pair ofidentical abutment bars and said predetermined angle of rotation is180*.
 9. A turntable for changing the direction of movement of a toyvehicle having a pair of drive wheels, said turntable comprising a baseproviding a vehicle supporting surface along which said toy vehicle maytravel; a vehicle support plate rotatably located in the path of travelof the vehicle on said base and mounted on said base for rotation in aplane parallel to said support surface, said support plate having apredetermined configuration selected to support said vehicle on saidbase with one of its drive wheels in driving engagement with said baseand the other of its drive wheels out of engagement with said base; andat least one vehicle abutment means mounted on said support plate formovement between a first position blocking movement of a vehicle on saidplate and a second position permitting movement off of said plate; saidbase including means operatively engaged with said abutment means formoving said abutment means between said first and second positionswhereby a vehicle moving along said base onto said support plate andstopped by said abutment means causes said plate to rotate and changesthe direction of its own path of travel by the engagement of said onedrive wheel with said base until said abutment means moves to its secondposition.
 10. The turntable as defined in claim 9 including a pair ofidentical abutment means mounted on said support plate in diAmetricallyopposed positions with respect to one another and respectivelycooperating with said means for moving the abutment means between firstand second positions; said last mentioned means changing the position ofone of said abutment means from its first to its second position and theother of said abutment arms from it second to its first position duringeach 180* of rotation of said support plate whereby rotation of saidsupport plate by a vehicle cause the direction of travel of the vehicleto be changed by 180* .
 11. The turntable as defined in claim 10 whereinsaid base includes stop means cooperating with said abutment means forstopping rotation of said support plate after each 180* movementthereof.
 12. The turntable as defined in claim 11 wherein each of saidabutment means comprises an abutment bar extending across the path oftravel of a vehicle on said base; means for mounting said bars formovement between said first and second positions, wherein said firstposition of each of said bars is located to block movement of thevehicle and the second position of the bars is located to permitmovement of the vehicle over the bars and for permitting movement ofsaid bars between extended and retracted positions with respect to saidplate in the driving direction of said vehicles; said bars each having astop surface for engaging said stop means when said bars are in theirretracted position; said stop means being located to engage the stopsurface of the bar moved from its second to its first position duringrotation of said plate, and said base including means for moving a barfrom its extended position to its retracted position as the barapproaches said stop means, thereby to stop rotation of said plate. 13.The turntable as defined in claim 12 wherein said mounting means permitsmovement of the bars in their second position, when said plate isstopped, from their retracted to their extended positions said stopmeans and stop surfaces being dimensioned to be free of one another inthe extended position of the bars whereby said support plate is free torotate under the influence of the vehicle thereon until the supportplate has rotated 180* and the stop surface of one of the bars engagessaid stop means.
 14. The turntable as defined in claim 13 wherein saidbars each include a support pin extending outwardly therefrom towardssaid base and said means for moving said abutment means between saidfirst and second positions comprises a relatively flat guide surfaceformed in said base and along which said pin moves during rotation ofsaid plate; said guide surface including a recess having an inclinedramp formed therein extending from a position below the plane of saidguide surface to said guide surface over an arc of approximately 180* toa position adjacent said stop means with the deepest end of said recessbeing substantially equal to the length of said pins whereby duringrotation of said plate one of the guide bars is supported by its supportpin in its first position from said stop means through 180* until itssupport pin enters the deepest end of said recess and the other of saidbars is moved from its second position to its first position as itssupport pin progresses along said ramp.
 15. The turntable as defined inclaim 14 wherein said base includes spaced guide wall means definingsaid vehicle support surface therebetween and located to direct avehicle over the bar in its second position when the plate is stopped,and thus onto the plate, whereby the vehicle impacts against the otherbar, then in its first position, to release that bar from engagementwith said stop means and to permit rotation of the plate by saidvehicle. k
 16. The turntable as defined in claim 15 wherein said basehas a recessed well formed therein having a bottom wall defining saidguide surface said support plate being mounted in said well with itsupper surface located in substantially the same plane as saId vehiclesupport surface; said barrier bars being positioned to enter said wellin the second positions thereof.
 17. The turntable as defined in claim16 wherein said support pins define said stop surfaces.